Clothes care apparatus and control method thereof

ABSTRACT

A clothes care apparatus includes a chamber, an upper fan, a lower fan, a first motor, a second motor, a filter, and a controller. The upper fan is positioned above the chamber and configured to move air in a down direction while the lower fan is positioned below the chamber and configured to move air in an up direction, The first motor is configured to rotate the upper fan and the second motor is configured to rotate the lower fan. The filter is configured to collect dust from the air within the chamber. The controller is configured to control the first motor and the second motor in a plurality of time sections. The plurality of time sections include a first time section for driving any one of the first motor and the second motor and a second time section for driving both the first motor and the second motor.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2018-0096963, filed on Aug. 20, 2018in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which isincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Field

The disclosure relates to a clothes care apparatus for removing dustgathered on clothes or the smell of the clothes.

2. Description of the Related Art

A clothes care apparatus is equipment for clothes care, such as dryingwet clothes, removing dust gathered on clothes or smell permeated inclothes, and smoothing out the wrinkles of clothes.

SUMMARY

Therefore, it is an aspect of the disclosure to provide a clothes careapparatus for controlling a plurality of blowers installed on varioussides of a chamber provided in a main body to remove dust gathered onclothes and collecting dust existing in the inside air of the chamber byusing a dust collecting filter; and a control method of the clothes careapparatus.

Additional aspects of the disclosure will be set forth in part in thedescription which follows and may be learned by practice of thedisclosure.

According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a clothescare apparatus including: a chamber; an upper fan positioned above thechamber and configured to move air in a down direction of the chamber; alower fan positioned below the chamber and configured to move air in anup direction of the chamber; a first motor configured to rotate theupper fan; a second motor configured to rotate the lower fan; a filterconfigured to collect dust included in inside air of the chamber; and acontroller configured to control the first motor and the second motor ina plurality of time sections, wherein the plurality of time sectionsinclude at least one first time section in which any one of the firstmotor and the second motor is driven and at least one second timesection in which both the first motor and the second motor are driven.

The clothes care apparatus may further include an inputter figured toreceive information about an execution course from a user, wherein, whenthe information about the execution course indicates a dust removalcourse, the controller controls the first motor and the second motor inthe plurality of time sections.

The controller may control the first motor and the second motor suchthat the at least one first time section and the at least one secondtime section appear alternately in the plurality of time sections.

The controller may drive the first motor in the first tune section,drive both the first motor and the second motor in the second timesection after the first time section, and drive the first motor in athird time section after the second time section.

The clothes care apparatus may further include: an upper heaterconfigured to heat air moving by the upper fan; and a lower heatexchanger configured to exchange air moving by the lower fan with heat,wherein the controller drives at least one of the upper heater and thelower heat exchanger in a least one time section among the plurality oftime sections.

The clothes care apparatus may further include a storage device storingdriving information including information about whether to drive thefirst motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections and information about rpms of the first motor and the secondmotor in each of the plurality of time sections, wherein the controllerdetermines whether to drive the first motor and the second motor in eachof the plurality of time sections and changes rpms of the first motorand the second motor in each of the plurality of time sections, based onthe driving information.

The controller may control the first motor and the second motor suchthat the first motor and the second motor are periodically turned on andoff in the first time section and the first motor or the second motor isperiodically turned on and off in the second time section.

The controller may change rpm of at least one of the first motor and thesecond motor when a time section changes.

The clothes care apparatus may further include: an outlet guiding airmoving by the upper fan in the down direction of the chamber; and ahanger positioned in the inside of the chamber, wherein clothes are hungon the hanger, wherein the hanger comprises a connection hole connectedto the outlet to receive air, and an inner outlet discharging air to theinside of the clothes, and wherein the outlet comprises an outer outletdischarging air to the outside of the clothes.

The controller may determine whether to drive the first motor and thesecond motor in each of the plurality of time sections and change rpmsof the first motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections, based on a type of clothes.

The clothes care apparatus may further include a communicator configuredto receive information about a type of the clothes from an externalcommunicator, wherein the controller determines a type of the clotheslocated in the inside of the chamber based on the information about thetype of the clothes.

The clothes care apparatus may further include a dust measuring sensorpositioned in the inside of the chamber and configured to measure anamount of dust included in inside air of the chamber, wherein thecontroller changes an execution time of each of the plurality of timesections based on the amount of dust measured by the dust measuringsensor.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided acontrol method of a clothes care apparatus, the clothes care apparatusincluding a chamber, an upper fan positioned above the chamber, a lowerfan positioned below the chamber, and a filter configured to collectdust included in inside air of the chamber, the control methodincluding: driving any one of a first motor and a second motor in atleast one first time section among the plurality of time sections, thefirst motor rotating the upper fan to move air in a down direction ofthe chamber, the second motor rotating the lower fan to move air in anup direction of the chamber; and driving both the first motor and thesecond motor in at least one second time section among the plurality oftime sections.

The control method may further include: receiving information about anexecution course from a user; and controlling, when the informationabout the execution course indicates a dust removal course, the firstmotor and the second motor in the plurality of time sections.

The control method may further include: controlling the first motor andthe second motor such that the at least one first time section and theat least one second time section appear alternately in the plurality oftime sections.

The control method may further include driving at least one of an upperheater for heating air moving by the upper fan and a lower heatexchanger for exchanging air moving by the lower fan with heat, in atleast one time section among the plurality of time sections.

The control method may further include determining whether to drive thefirst motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections and changing rpms of the first motor and the second motor ineach of the plurality of time sections, based on driving informationincluding information about whether to drive the first motor and thesecond motor in each of the plurality of time sections and informationabout rpms of the first motor and the second motor in each of theplurality of time sections.

The control method may further include determining whether to drive thefirst motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections and changing rpms of the first motor and the second motor ineach of the plurality of time sections, based on a type of clothes.

The control method may further include: measuring an amount of dustincluded in inside air of the chamber by using a dust measuring sensorpositioned in the inside of the chamber, and changing an execution timeof each of the plurality of time sections based on the amount of dustmeasured by the dust measuring sensor.

According to another aspect of the disclosure, there is provided aclothes care apparatus including: a chamber; an upper fan positionedabove the chamber and configured to move air in a down direction of thechamber; a lower fan positioned below the chamber and configured to moveair in an up direction of the chamber; a first motor configured torotate the upper fan; a second motor configured to rotate the lower fan;a filter configured to collect dust included in air moving in the insideof the chamber; and a controller configured to perform controlsincluding a first time section in which the first motor is driven tomove air in the down direction of the chamber, a second time section inwhich the first motor and the second motor are driven to move air in theup and down directions of the chamber, and a third time section in whichthe first motor is driven to move air in the down direction of thechamber.

Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION below, it may beadvantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases usedthroughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” aswell as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term“or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and“associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean toinclude, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be containedwithin, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with,cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to orwith, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller”means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least oneoperation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware orsoftware, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should benoted that the functionality associated with any particular controllermay be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely.

Moreover, various functions described below can be implemented orsupported by one or more computer programs, each of which is formed fromcomputer readable program code and embodied in a computer readablemedium. The terms “application” and “program” refer to one or morecomputer programs, software components, sets of instructions,procedures, functions, objects, classes, instances, related data, or aportion thereof adapted for implementation in a suitable computerreadable program code. The phrase “computer readable program code”includes any type of computer code, including source code, object code,and executable code. The phrase “computer readable medium” includes anytype of medium capable of being accessed by a computer, such as readonly memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive, acompact disc (CD), a digital video disc (DVD), or any other type ofmemory. A “non-transitory” computer readable medium excludes wired,wireless, optical, or other communication links that transporttransitory electrical or other signals. A non-transitory computerreadable medium includes media where data can be permanently stored andmedia where data can be stored and later overwritten, such as arewritable optical disc or an erasable memory device.

Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout thispatent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understandthat in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, aswell as future uses of such defined words and phrases.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and/or other aspects of the disclosure will become apparent andmore readily appreciated from the following description of theembodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings ofwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of a clothes care apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a clothes careapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 3 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of a clothes careapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 4 illustrates a control block diagram of a clothes care apparatusaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 5 illustrates dust removal rates according to driving of an upperblower and a lower blower in a clothes care apparatus according to anembodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 6 illustrates driving information of an upper blower and a lowerblower in a dust removal course of a clothes care apparatus according toan embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 7A illustrates a dust distribution when no dust collecting filterexists in a clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 7B illustrates a dust distribution when a dust collecting filterexists in a clothes care apparatus according to an embodiment of thedisclosure;

FIG. 8 illustrates a side cross-sectional view of a clothes careapparatus according to another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 9 illustrates a flowchart showing a process of controlling an upperblower and a lower blower in a control method of a clothes careapparatus according to an embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart showing a process of controlling anupper blower and a lower blower in a control method of a clothes careapparatus according to another embodiment of the disclosure;

FIG. 11 illustrates a flowchart showing a process of determining a typeof clothes accommodated in a chamber to control an upper blower and alower blower, in a control method of a clothes care apparatus accordingto another embodiment of the disclosure; and

FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart showing a process of adjusting anexecution time of a dust removal course of a clothes care apparatus, ina control method of a clothes care apparatus according to anotherembodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1 through 12, discussed below, and the various embodiments used todescribe the principles of the present disclosure in this patentdocument are by way of illustration only and should not be construed inany way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the artwill understand that the principles of the present disclosure may beimplemented in any suitably arranged system or device.

Configurations illustrated in the embodiments and the drawings describedin the present specification are only the preferred embodiments of thepresent disclosure, and thus it is to be understood that variousmodified examples, which may replace the embodiments and the drawingsdescribed in the present specification, are possible when filing thepresent application.

It will be understood that when a component is referred to as being“connected” to another component, it can be directly or indirectlyconnected to the other component. When a component is indirectlyconnected to another component, it may be connected to the othercomponent through a wireless communication network.

The terms used in the present specification are merely used to describeparticular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the presentdisclosure. An expression used in the singular encompasses theexpression of the plural, unless it has a clearly different meaning inthe context. In the present specification, it is to be understood thatthe terms such as “including” or “having”, etc., are intended toindicate the existence of the features, numbers, operations, components,parts, or combinations thereof disclosed in the specification, and arenot intended to preclude the possibility that one or more otherfeatures, numbers, operations, components, parts, or combinationsthereof may exist or may be added.

It will be understood that, although the terms “first”, “second”, etc.,may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements shouldnot be limited by these terms. The above terms are used only todistinguish one component from another. For example, a first componentdiscussed below could be termed a second component, and similarly, asecond component may be termed a first component without departing fromthe teachings of this disclosure.

In addition, the terms “portion”, “device”, “block”, “member”, and“module” used herein refer to a unit for processing at least onefunction or operation. For example, the terms may mean at least oneprocess that may be processed by at least one hardware such asfield-programmable gate array (FPGA) or application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC), or at least one software or processor stored in amemory.

Reference numerals used in operations are provided to identify theoperations, without describing the order of the operations, and theoperations can be executed in a different order from the stated orderunless a specific order is definitely specified in the context.

The clothes care apparatus includes a main body having a chamber inwhich clothes are accommodated and managed, and a door for opening orclosing the chamber. In the inside of the main body, a compressor and aheat exchanger for supplying dry air to clothes and a steam generatorfor supplying a steam to the clothes are installed.

Accordingly, the clothes care apparatus performs a function of supplyingair or hot air generated by a blower to clothes to remove dust gatheredon the clothes or smell permeated in the clothes, and a function ofspraying a steam generated by the steam generator to smooth out wrinklesfrom the clothes.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, an upper motor may indicate a first motor, and a lowermotor may indicate a second motor.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a clothes care apparatus 1 according toan embodiment of the present disclosure, FIG. 2 is an explodedperspective view of the clothes care apparatus 1 according to anembodiment of the disclosure, and FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional viewof the clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the clothes care apparatus 1 may include amain body 10, a chamber 12 a provided in the inside of the main body 10to accommodate and care clothes, a door 20 rotatably coupled with themain body 10 and opening or closing the chamber 12 a, and a hanger 30provided in the inside of the chamber 12 a to hang clothes thereon.

The main body 10 may include an outer frame 11, an inner frame 12installed in the inside of the outer frame 11, and upper ducts 13 and 14positioned between the outer frame 11 and the inner frame 12 to guideair to circulate.

The outer frame 11 may be in the shape of a rectangular parallelepipedthat opens at the front side to form an inside space 11 a.

The inner frame 12 may be positioned in the inside space 11 a of theouter frame 11. The inner frame 12 may be positioned in the inside space11 a to partition a machine room 11 b. The inner frame 12 may include achamber 12 a that opens at the front side to accommodate clothes.

The machine room 11 b may be an area of the inside space 11 a and may bepartitioned from the chamber 12 a by the inner frame 12. The machineroom 11 b may be positioned below the chamber 12 a.

As shown in FIG. 3, the machine room 11 b may include a lower heatexchanger 180 constituting a cooling cycle. The lower heat exchanger 180may accommodate a compressor 181, a condenser 182 and an evaporator 183,and an expansion valve (not shown). The lower heat exchangers 180 mayinclude a condenser 182 and an evaporator 183.

Also, the machine room 11 b may include a lower blower 150 for inhalingair to the inside of the machine room 11 b and causing air to enter theinside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a.

The lower blower 150 may include a lower motor 151 for generating arotatory force, and a lower fan 152 rotating by the lower motor 151.

Also, the machine room 11 b may accommodate lower ducts 55 and 56 (also,referred to as a first lower duct 55 and a second lower duct 56) forguiding air inhaled by the lower fan 152, and also accommodate a steamgenerator 57 for generating a steam.

The lower fan 152 may be a centrifugal fan for inhaling air in an axialdirection and discharging air outward in a radial direction, althoughnot limited thereto.

Also, a single lower fan 152 may be shown, however, a plurality of lowerfans may be provided according to design.

Also, air flowing through the lower fan 152 may be dried through thelower heat exchanger 180, and therefore, clothes located in the chamber12 a may receive the dried air from below the chamber 12 a. This will bedescribed in detail, later.

The door 20 may be rotatably installed on one side of a front portion ofthe main body 10, and the door 20 may rotate to open or close thechamber 12 a.

The door 20 may include an inputter 110 for enabling a user to select anoperation of the clothes care apparatus 1. The inputter 110 may bepositioned on a front surface of the door 20. The inputter 110 mayinclude a button 110 a to enable the user to select an operation of theclothes care apparatus 1 by touching or pushing the button 110 a, and adisplay 110 b displaying an operation state, etc. of the clothes careapparatus 1. In contrast, the inputter 110 may be implemented as adisplay capable of receiving touch inputs, instead of being divided to abutton and a display.

The inner frame 12 may include the chamber 12 a opening at the frontportion, an upper cover 12 b positioned on a top of the chamber 12 a andforming a space in which an upper blower 140 is accommodated, and alower cover 12 c extending downward from a front lower end of thechamber 12 a and covering the machine room 11 b at the front portion.

That is, the upper blower 140 may be provided above the chamber 12 a andpositioned behind the upper cover 12 b. The upper blower 140 may includean upper motor 141 for generating a rotatory force, a pair of upper fans142 rotating by the upper motor 141, and a pair of fan cases 143accommodating the pair of upper fans 142.

The upper motor 141 may have a shaft protruding in both side directions,and both ends of the shaft may be respectively coupled with the upperfans 142. Through the structure, the pair of upper fans 142 may rotateby the single driving motor 141.

The pair of upper fans 142 may be a centrifugal fan for inhaling air inan axial direction and discharging air outward in a radial direction,although not limited thereto.

Also, the pair of upper fans 142 may be shown, however, a plurality ofupper fans may be provided according to design.

The pair of fan cases 143 may include an inlet (not shown) at both sidesand an outlet (not shown) in a front direction to guide air inhaled fromthe both sides toward the front direction.

In the lower cover 12 c, a water supply bucket 58 and a water drainbucket 59 may be removably installed. The water supply bucket 58 and thewater drain bucket 59 may be individually separated from the lower cover12 c. The water supply bucket 58 and the water drain bucket 59 may becoupled with the lower cover 12 c. The water supply bucket 58 may supplywater to the steam generator 57. The water drain bucket 59 may storewater condensed when humid air passes through a cooling cycle. The watersupply bucket 58 and the water drain bucket 59 may be installed atdifferent positions.

Referring to FIG. 3, in a rear portion of the chamber 12 a, a firstinlet 12 d may be formed to cause inside air of the chamber 12 a toenter the upper ducts 13 and 14. In a front or rear area of the firstinlet 12 d, a dust collecting filter 12 e for collecting foreignmaterials such as dust may be installed. The dust collecting filter 12 emay be a high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, although notlimited thereto.

Also, the dust collecting filter 12 e according to an embodiment may bemade of polypropylene. Accordingly, the dust collecting filter 12 e maycollect dust existing in inside air of the chamber 12 a without beingdeformed even in a high-temperature and high-humidity environment.

Also, the dust collecting filter 12 e according to an embodiment mayhave a bent structure to reduce pressure loss.

In an upper portion of the chamber 12 a, a first outlet 12 f fordischarging inside air of the upper ducts 13 and 14 to the chamber 12 amay be provided.

When the upper fans 142 rotate, inside air of the chamber 12 a may enterthe first upper duct 13 through the first inlet 12 d. When the insideair of the chamber 12 a enters the first upper duct 13, the dustcollecting filter 12 e may remove foreign materials such as fine dustexisting in the inside air of the chamber 12 a.

The air entered the first upper duct 13 may move upward along the firstupper duct 13 to be inhaled in the upper fan 142. Air discharged fromthe upper fan 142 may move along the second upper duct 14, and enter theinside of the chamber 12 a through the first outlet 12 f provided in theupper portion of the chamber 12 a.

That is, a lower end of the first upper duct 13 may be connected to arear, lower portion of the chamber 12 a, and an upper end of the firstupper duct 13 may cover the upper blower 140. A rear end of the secondupper duct 14 may be connected to the upper blower 140, and a front endof the second upper duct 14 may cover the outer, upper surface of thechamber 12 a to be connected to the first outlet 12 f.

The first outlet 12 f according to an embodiment may include a firstinner outlet (not shown) for discharging air to the inside of the hanger30, and a first outer outlet (not shown) positioned at both sides of thefirst inner outlet (not shown) to discharge air to both sides of clotheshung on the hanger 30.

A single hanger 30 may be shown, however, a plurality of hangers 30 maybe provided according to design. The first outlet 12 f may include aplurality of first inner outlets for discharging air to the insides ofthe individual hangers, and a plurality of first outer outletspositioned between the first inner outlets and at both sides of thefirst inner outlets to discharge air to both sides of clothes hung onthe individual hangers.

In the second upper duct 14 according to an embodiment, an upper heater170 may be installed to heat air. The upper heater 170 may heat air.When air flowing by the upper fan 142 passes through the upper heater170, hot air may enter the inside of the chamber 12 a through the firstoutlet 12 f. In FIG. 3, only the upper heater 170 is shown, however, theclothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment may include a heatexchanger (not shown) for removing moisture from air flowing by theupper fans 142, instead of the upper heater 170. In this case, the heatexchanger may include devices, such as a compressor, a condenser, and anevaporator.

The hanger 30 according to an embodiment may be provided in the insideof the chamber 12 a to hang clothes thereon.

The hanger 30 may include a top hanger 31 for hanging a top thereon, anda bottom hanger 32 connected to a lower portion of the top hanger 31 tohang a bottom thereon. The hanger 30 according to an embodiment mayinclude only the top hanger 31.

The top hanger 31 may be in the shape of substantially a triangle havinga wider width at the lower portion, and include a top hanging portion 31a on which clothes are hung, and a connection tube 31 b extending upwardfrom an upper end of the top hanging portion 31 a and connected to thefirst outlet 12 f.

Also, an upper portion of the connection tube 31 b may be connected tothe first outlet 12 f to form a connection hole (not shown) receivingair from the first outlet 12 f, and a bottom portion of the top hangingportion 31 a may include an inner outlet (not shown) for discharging airto the inside of a top hung on the top hanging portion 31 a. Also, thetop hanger 31 may include flow paths 31 e and 31 f formed in the insideto guide air transferred through the connection hole (not shown) to theinner outlet (not shown).

The flow paths 31 e and 31 f may include a first flow path 31 e forguiding air to the inside of a body of a top hung on the top hanger 31,and a pair of second flow paths 31 f inclined downward at both sides ofthe first flow path 31 e to guide air to the insides of both arms of thetop hung on the top hanger 31.

Accordingly, air may be distributed to the insides of the both arms ofthe top, as well as to the inside of the body of the top, through thefirst flow path 31 e and the second flow paths 31 f, thereby removingdust, smell and wrinkles of the both arms of the top, as well as thoseof the body of the top.

The bottom hanger 32 may include a bottom hanging portion 32 a whichextends in a horizontal direction and on which a bottom is hung, afilter accommodating portion 32 b which is positioned below the bottomhanging portion 32 a and in which various functional filters 33 areinstalled, and a connector 32 c positioned above the bottom hanger 32 aand connecting the bottom hanger 32 to the top hanger 31. Because thebottom hanger 32 is connected to the lower portion of the top hanger 31as described above, the bottom hung on the bottom hanging portion 32 amay be positioned in the inside of the top hung on the top hangingportion 31 a.

Accordingly, when air discharged to the inside of the top through thesecond flow path 31 f passes through the inside of the body of the top,the air may also pass through the bottom hung on the bottom hangingportion 32 a to remove dust, smell, and wrinkles of the bottom.

The bottom hanging portion 32 a may include two wires extending in thehorizontal direction and spaced in parallel to each other. Accordingly,when a bottom is hung on the bottom hanging portion 32 a, a spacebetween the two wires may function as a flow path through which airpasses.

The filter accommodating portion 32 b may be connected to a lowerportion of the bottom hanging portion 32 a, and formed by wires, likethe bottom hanging portion 32 a. In the filter accommodating portion 32b, various kinds of functional filters 33, such as a deodorant or an airfresher, may be selectively put by a user.

Referring to FIG. 3, in an upper area of the machine room 11 b, a secondinlet 53 and a second outlet 54 may be positioned. The second inlet 53may be positioned in a bottom front portion of the chamber 12 a, and thesecond outlet 54 may be positioned in a bottom rear portion of thechamber 12 a. However, the second inlet 53 and the second outlet 54 maybe positioned at different locations.

Inside air of the chamber 12 a may enter the first lower duct 55 throughthe second inlet 53. One end of the first lower duct 55 may be connectedto the second inlet 53, and the other end of the first lower duct 55 maybe connected to the lower fan 152 of the lower blower 150. Air enteredthe first lower duct 55 may move to the second lower duct 56 via thelower fan 152.

In the inside of the second lower duct 56, the evaporator 183 and thecondenser 182 of the lower heat exchanger 180 may be positioned. Theevaporator 183 may absorb heat from inside air of the second lower duct56. Moisture in the air may pass through the evaporator 183 to becondensed to water, and the condensed water may be stored in the waterdrain bucket 59 via a predetermined path. Air passed through thecondenser 182 may have low humidity.

The condenser 182 may be positioned downstream from the evaporator 183on a flow path of air. Air with low humidity passed through theevaporator 183 may pass through the condenser 182 to be heated. Airpassed through the evaporator 183 and the condenser 182 may become ahigh-temperature and low-humidity state. The high-temperature dry airmay enter the chamber 12 a through the second outlet 54.

That is, the lower heat exchanger 180 according to an embodiment mayremove moisture from air flowing by the lower fan 152 by using thecondenser 182 and the evaporator 183 installed in the second lower duct56. Thereby, the high-temperature dry air may enter the inside of thechamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a.

As described above, inside air of the chamber 12 a may enter the secondinlet 53 to pass through a cooling cycle and then be discharged throughthe second outlet 54. Through the process, the inside of the chamber 12a may be dehumidified to dry clothes.

Also, the machine room 11 b may accommodate the compressor 181 of thelower heat exchanger 180.

According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the compressor 181 may bean inverter compressor capable of changing revolutions per minute (rpm)or a compression capacity. The inverter compressor may change thecompression capacity by controlling the rpm, and accordingly, control aheating value of the condenser 182.

Also, the machine room 11 b may accommodate the steam generator 57.According to an embodiment of the disclosure, the steam generator 57 maygenerate a steam that is to be supplied to the chamber 12 a, and supplythe generated steam to the chamber 12 a to thereby remove wrinkles ofclothes.

The steam generator 57 may include the water supply bucket 58 forstoring water, a heater (not shown) for heating the water to generate asteam, etc. The water supply bucket 58 may be removably installedthrough the lower cover 12 c described above. A steam generated by thesteam generator 57 may be transferred to the lower blower 150 to besupplied to the chamber 12 a through the lower blower 150.

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of the clothes care apparatus 1according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 4, the clothes care apparatus 1 according to anembodiment may include the inputter 110 for receiving a user's input, acommunicator 120 for transmitting/receiving information to/from anexternal communicator, a storage device 130 for storing drivinginformation of the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 of theclothes care apparatus 1, the upper motor 141 included in the upperblower 140 to rotate the upper fan 142 to rotate the upper fans 142 tocause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from above the chamber12 a, the lower motor 151 included in the lower blower 150 to rotate thelower fan 152 to cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a frombelow the chamber 12 a, and a controller 160 for controlling driving andrpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each time sectionof a dust removal course based on driving information.

Also, the clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment mayinclude the upper heater 170 for heating air entering the inside of thechamber 12 a from above the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142, and thelower heat exchanger 180 for exchanging heat with air entering theinside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a by the lower fan152 to remove moisture from the air.

The inputter 110 according to an embodiment may receive an input from auser. More specifically, the inputter 110 may receive a command for anexecution course of the clothes care apparatus 1 from the user.

The clothes care apparatus 1 may have various courses for caringclothes. More specifically, the courses of the clothes care apparatus 1may include a standard course for providing a steam to clothes to removewrinkles of the clothes, to remove dust existing in the clothes, and tosterilize the clothes.

The standard course according to an embodiment may supply a steamgenerated by the steam generator 57 to the inside of the chamber 12 abefore air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and belowthe chamber 12 a.

More specifically, the steam generated by the steam generator 57 may besupplied to the inside of the chamber 12 a through the second outlet 54.That is, the clothes care apparatus 1 may provide a steam to clotheshung on the hanger 30 in the chamber 12 a to remove wrinkles and smellof the clothes.

Also, after the steam is supplied, the upper blower 140 and the lowerblower 150 of the clothes care apparatus 1 may be driven to remove dustexisting in clothes hung on the hanger 30 in the chamber 12 a. At thistime, the upper heater 170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 may bedriven so that dried air may enter the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove and below the chamber 12 a.

Thereby, the clothes hung on the hanger 30 in the chamber 12 a mayreceive the dried air entered from above and below the chamber 12 a tobe dried. Accordingly, wrinkles and smell of the clothes may be removedand dust existing in the clothes may be removed.

Thereafter, the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 may change therpms to remove dust existing in inside air of the chamber 12 a. Morespecifically, the dust collecting filter 12 e provided on the firstupper duct 13 along which air flowing by the upper blower 140 moves maycollect dust from the flowing air.

Also, the courses of the clothes care apparatus 1 may include a dustremoval course for providing air to clothes to remove dust of theclothes. The clothes care apparatus 1 may have other various coursesthan the above-described courses.

The courses may be performed simultaneously or sequentially, and one ofthe courses may be performed alone by a user's selection.

The controller 160 which will be described later may control variousdevices of the clothes care apparatus 1 to perform an execution coursebased on information about the execution course input through theinputter 110. For example, when the controller 160 receives informationabout an execution course indicating the dust removal course through theinputter 110, the controller 160 may control at least one of the uppermotor 141, the lower motor 151, the upper heater 170, and the lower heatexchanger 180 to be driven to perform the dust removal course.

Also, the inputter 110 according to an embodiment may receive an inputfor a course execution time from the user, and also receive inputs foroverall operations of the clothes care apparatus 1.

The communicator 120 according to an embodiment may transmit/receiveinformation to/from an external communicator through wired/wirelesscommunications. The external communicator may be a remote controller forreceiving an input for an operation of the clothes care apparatus 1 froma user and transmitting the input to the communicator 120 of the clothescare apparatus 1. Also, the external communicator may be the user'smobile phone.

The wireless communication may use, as a cellular communicationprotocol, at least one of 5th generation mobile telecommunication (5G),long-term evolution (LTE), LTE advanced (LTE-A), code division multipleaccess (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA), universal mobiletelecommunications system (UMTS), wireless broadband (WiBro), or globalsystem for mobile communications (GSM). Also, the wireless communicationmay include, for example, a short-range communication. The short-rangecommunication may include at least one of wireless fidelity (WiFi),Bluetooth, or near field communication (NFC).

The wired communication may include, for example, at least one of auniversal serial bus (USB), a high definition multimedia interface(HDMI), recommended standard232 (RS-232), or a plain old telephoneservice (POTS).

The communicator 120 may receive information about an execution courseof the clothes care apparatus 1 from the external communicator. Morespecifically, the user may input information about an execution courseof the clothes care apparatus 1 through the external communicator, andthe information about the execution course of the clothes care apparatus1 may be transferred to the controller 160 through the communicator 120.The controller 160 which will be described later may perform a courseindicated by the information based on the information about theexecution course of the clothes care apparatus 1 transferred through thecommunicator 120. This will be described in detail, later.

The communicator 120 may receive information about a type of clotheslocated in the clothes care apparatus 1 from the external communicator.More specifically, a user may input information about a type of clotheslocated in the clothes care apparatus 1 to the external communicator,and the information about the type of the clothes may be transferred tothe clothes care apparatus 1 from the external communicator through thecommunicator 120.

The controller 160 which will be described later may receive theinformation about the type of the clothes located in the clothes careapparatus 1 from the external communicator through the communicator 120,and control driving of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 ineach time segment of the dust removal course based on the informationabout the type of the clothes. This will be described in detail, later.

The clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment may include, asdescribed above, the upper blower 140 positioned above the chamber 12 ato cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from above thechamber 12 a, and the lower blower 150 positioned below the chamber 12 ato cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from below thechamber 12 a.

The upper blower 140 according to an embodiment may include the upperfans 142 positioned above the chamber 12 a to move air in a downdirection of the chamber 12 a, and the upper motor 141 for rotating theupper fans 142 to cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove the chamber 12 a.

The lower blower 150 according to an embodiment may include the lowerfan 152 positioned below the chamber 12 a to move air in an up directionof the chamber 12 a, and the lower motor 151 for rotating the lower fan152 to cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from below thechamber 12 a.

That is, the upper fans 142 may receive a rotatory force from the uppermotor 141 to move air in the down direction of the chamber 12 a, and thelower fan 152 may receive a rotatory force from the lower motor 151 tomove air in the up direction of the chamber 12 a.

The storage device 130 according to an embodiment may store drivinginformation of the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 of theclothes care apparatus 1. More specifically, the storage device 130 maystore driving information for the upper motor 141 and the lower motor151 in a plurality of time sections of the dust removal course.

The driving information stored in the storage device 130 may includeinformation about whether to drive the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151 in each of the plurality of time sections and rpm informationof the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each of the pluralityof time sections.

The plurality of time sections according to an embodiment may include atleast one time section in which both the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151 are driven, and at least one time section in which any one ofthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 is driven.

Also, the driving information stored in the storage device 130 accordingto an embodiment may include information about whether to drive theupper heater 170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 in each of theplurality of time sections.

Also, the storage device 130 may store various information about theclothes care apparatus 1. To store the various information, the storagedevice 130 may be implemented as at least one among a non-volatilememory device, such as a cache, Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM(PROM), Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), Electrically ErasableProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), and flash memory, a volatile memory devicesuch as Random Access Memory (RAM), or a storage medium, such as HardDisk Drive (HDD) and CD-ROM, although not limited thereto.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may control the uppermotor 141, the lower motor 151, the upper heater 170, the lower heatexchanger 180, etc. to perform the dust removal course based oninformation about an execution course received through the inputter 110or the communicator 120.

More specifically, the controller 160 may receive information about anexecution course input by a user from at least one of the inputter 110and the communicator 120. Also, the controller 160 may control the uppermotor 141, the lower motor 151, the upper heater 170, the lower heatexchanger 180, etc. to perform the execution course indicated by theinformation about the execution course, based on the information aboutthe execution course input by the user.

For example, when the execution course indicated by the informationabout the execution course input by the user is the dust removal course,the controller 160 may control the upper motor 141, the lower motor 151,the upper heater 170, the lower heat exchanger 180, etc. to remove dustof clothes located in the chamber 12 a.

Hereinafter, a process in which the controller 160 controls the uppermotor 141, the lower motor 151, the upper heater 170, and the lower heatexchanger 180 to perform the dust removal course will be described indetail.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive at least one ofthe upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 in a plurality of timesections, based on driving information stored in the storage device 130.

More specifically, the controller 160 may drive at least one of theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in a plurality of time sectionsbased on driving information. Thereby, the controller 160 may rotate theupper fans 142 to cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove the chamber 12 a, may rotate the lower fan 152 to cause air toenter the inside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a, or mayrotate both the upper fans 142 and the lower fan 152 to cause air toenter the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and below the chamber 12a, in each of the plurality of time sections.

That is, the controller 160 may drive both the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 to rotate all the upper fans 142 and the lower fan 152in at least one time section of the plurality of time sections, and maydrive any one of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 to rotateany one of the upper fans 142 and the lower fan 152 in at least one timesection of the plurality of time sections.

However, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive onlythe upper motor 141 to rotate only the upper fans 142 throughout theplurality of time sections of the dust removal course, or may drive onlythe lower motor 151 to rotate only the lower fan 152 throughout theplurality of time sections of the dust removal course.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive both theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 to rotate all the upper fans 142and the lower fan 152 throughout the plurality of time sections of thedust removal course.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive only theupper motor 141 to rotate only the upper fans 142 in some time sectionsof the plurality of time sections of the dust removal course, and maydrive only the lower motor 151 to rotate only the lower fan 152 in theother time sections of the plurality of time sections.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may change rpm of atleast one of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 when a timesection changes, based on driving information.

That is, the controller 160 may set rpm of at least one of the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each time section, based on drivinginformation.

As such, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may determinewhether to drive the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 and rpmsof the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151, in each of the pluralityof time sections, based on driving information.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may control theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 such that at least one timesection in which both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 aredriven and at least one time section in which any one of the upper motor141 and the lower motor 151 is driven appear alternately in theplurality of time sections.

Accordingly, the clothes care apparatus 1 may provide more various airflows in the dust removal course. For example, in at least one timesection of the plurality of time sections of the dust removal course,both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 may be driven so thatair enters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and below thechamber 12 a, and in at least one time section, any one of the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 may be driven so that air enters theinside of the chamber 12 a from above or below the chamber 12 a.

That is, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a of theclothes care apparatus 1 may be provided various air flows according tothe control of the controller 160, and therefore, dust existing in theclothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a may be moreefficiently removed. This will be described in detail, later.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may control the uppermotor 141 to be periodically turned on and off.

The controller 160 may control the clothes care apparatus 1 by drivingthe upper motor 141 for a predetermined time section of the plurality oftime sections to rotate the upper fans 142 to thus cause air to enterthe inside of the chamber 12 a from above the chamber 12 a. That is, thecontroller 160 may control the clothes care apparatus 1 to move air inthe down direction of the chamber 12 a.

The controller 160 may control the upper motor 141 to be periodicallyturned on and off in a predetermined time section for which air entersthe inside of the chamber 12 a from above the chamber 12 a.

More specifically, the controller 160 may control the upper motor 141such that the rpm of the upper motor 141 rises and falls sharply byperiodically turning on and off the upper motor 141. Therefore, air mayenter the inside of the chamber 12 a instantaneously from above thechamber 12 a to apply a physical impact to clothes located in thechamber 12 a.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may control thelower motor 151 to be periodically turned on and off, like the uppermotor 141.

The controller 160 may control the lower motor 151 to be periodicallyturned on and off in a predetermined time section for which air entersthe inside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a.

More specifically, the controller 160 may control the lower motor 151such that the rpm of the lower motor 151 rises and falls sharply byperiodically turning on and off the lower motor 151. Therefore, air mayenter the inside of the chamber 12 a instantaneously from below thechamber 12 a to apply a physical impact to clothes located in thechamber 12 a.

That is, the clothes care apparatus 1 may provide a physical impact toclothes located in the chamber 12 a through air enteringinstantaneously, thereby more efficiently removing dust existing in theclothes.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may determine a typeof clothes located in the chamber 12 a. The controller 160 may determinewhether to drive the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each ofthe plurality of time sections and change rpms of the upper motor 141and the lower motor 151 in each of the plurality of time sections, basedon the type of the clothes.

Also, the controller 160 may determine a type of clothes based on anoutput from at least one sensor installed in the chamber 12 a or basedon information about the type of the clothes received from an externalcommunicator through the communicator 120. This will be described indetail, later.

According to driving of the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150,dust existing in clothes may be discharged into inside air of thechamber 12 a.

The inside air including the discharged dust may flow by the upper fans142 to enter the first upper duct 13, and the dust included in theinside air may be collected in the dust collecting filter 12 e providedin the first upper duct 13.

Accordingly, the clothes care apparatus 1 may collect dust existing inthe inside air of the chamber 12 a according to driving of the upperblower 140.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may determine anamount of dust included in the inside air of the chamber 12 a, andchange an execution time for each of the plurality of time sections ofthe dust removal course based on the determined amount of dust.

That is, when an amount of dust included in the inside air of thechamber 12 a is small, the controller 160 according to an embodiment maydecrease an execution time of the dust removal course. Thereby, clothesof a low degree of contamination may be cared more quickly, and clothesof a high degree of contamination may be cared more satisfactorily. Thiswill be described in detail, later.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may control theupper heater 170 for heating air entering the inside of the chamber 12 afrom above the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 and the lower heatexchanger 180 for exchanging air entering the inside of the chamber 12 afrom below the chamber 12 a by the lower fan 152 with heat to removemoisture in the air.

More specifically, the controller 160 may drive the upper heater 170 andthe lower heat exchanger 180 based on driving information stored in thestorage device 130.

That is, the controller 160 may drive the upper heater 170 for heatingair entering the inside of the chamber 12 a from above the chamber 12 aby the upper fans 142 in at least one time section of the plurality oftime sections of the dust removal course, and may drive the lower heatexchanger 180 for exchanging air entering the inside of the chamber 12 afrom below the chamber 12 a by the lower fan 152 with heat in at leastone time section of the plurality of time sections of the dust removalcourse.

That is, the controller 160 may drive at least one of the upper heater170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 for at least one time section ofthe dust removal course to heat air entering the inside of the chamber12 a from above the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 or to removemoisture from air entering the inside of the chamber 12 a from below thechamber 12 a by the lower fan 152.

Accordingly, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a maybe supplied air from which moisture has been removed, and accordingly,an adhesive force between the clothes and dust due to moisture may bereduced, so that dust existing in the clothes may be more efficientlyremoved.

The controller 160 may include at least one memory storing a program forperforming the above-described operations and operations which will bedescribed later, and at least one processor for executing the storedprogram. When a plurality of memories and a plurality of processors areprovided, the memories and processors may be integrated into a singlechip or positioned at physically separated locations.

FIG. 5 shows dust removal rates according to driving of the upper blower140 and the lower blower 150 in the clothes care apparatus 1 accordingto an embodiment of the disclosure, and FIG. 6 shows driving informationof the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 in a dust removalcourse of the clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of thedisclosure.

Referring to FIG. 5, a dust removal rate in a case of driving only theupper blower 140 so that air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove the chamber 12 a is compared with a dust removal rate in a case ofdriving both the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 so that airenters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and below the chamber12 a.

Herein, the dust removal rate mean a removal rate of dust existing inclothes hung on the hanger 30 in the chamber 12 a. That is, amounts ofdust existing in clothes before and after the dust removal course isperformed may be compared to acquire dust removal rates.

Referring to a graph shown in FIG. 5, it is seen that the dust removalrate in the case of driving only the upper blower 140 is lower than thedust removal rate in the case of driving both the upper blower 140 andthe lower blower 150.

More specifically, when the rpm of the upper motor 141 is set to 2300rpm, a dust removal rate in the case of driving only the upper blower140 is 45.2%, whereas a dust removal rate in the case of driving boththe upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 is 63.6%. Therefore, it isseen that the dust removal rate in the case of driving both the upperblower 140 and the lower blower 150 is higher than the dust removal ratein the case of driving only the upper blower 140. At this time, thelower blower 150 may be driven at 1800 rpm of the lower motor 151.

The reason may be because clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside thechamber 12 a move more freely due to air flows when air enters theinside of the chamber 12 a from above and below the chamber 12 a ratherthan when air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above thechamber 12 a.

More specifically, when air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove the chamber 12 a, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber12 a may be limited to left and right movements due to the flow of theair entered from above, whereas when air enters the inside of thechamber 12 a from above and below the chamber 12 a, clothes hung on thehanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a may move in left, right, up, and downdirections due to the flow of the air entered from above and below. As aresult, the clothes may move more freely.

The dust removal rate in the case of driving both the upper blower 140and the lower blower 150 may be higher than the dust removal rate in thecase of driving only the upper blower 140.

Also, it is confirmed from FIG. 5 that, when both the upper blower 140and the lower blower 150 are driven for air to enter the inside of thechamber 12 a from above and below the chamber 12 a, dust removal rateschange depending on rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151.

The reason may be because, when air enters the inside of the chamber 12a from above and below the chamber 12 a, degrees of reinforcement andinterference in flow of air entering from above the chamber 12 a aredifferent from those in flow of air entering from below the chamber 12a. Optimal rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 for dustremoval may be set by an experiment. The rpm of the upper motor 141 maybe set to be higher than that of the lower motor 151 in consideration ofdust removal through the dust collecting filter 12 e.

Accordingly, in at least one time section of the plurality of timesections of the dust removal course, both the upper blower 140 and thelower blower 150 may be driven.

That is, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive boththe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 to rotate all the upper fans142 and the lower fan 152 in at least one time section of the pluralityof time sections, and the controller 160 may drive any one of the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 to rotate any one of the upper fans142 and the lower fan 152 in at least one time section of the pluralityof time sections.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may change the rpmof at least one of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 when atime section changes, based on driving information. That is, thecontroller 160 may set the rpm of at least one of the upper motor 141and the lower motor 151 in each time section based on drivinginformation.

As such, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may determinewhether to drive the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 and rpmsof the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each time section ofthe plurality of time sections, based on driving information.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may control theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 such that at least one timesection in which both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 aredriven and at least one time section in which any one of the upper motor141 and the lower motor 151 is driven appear alternately.

However, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive onlythe upper motor 141 to rotate only the upper fans 142 throughout theplurality of time sections of the dust removal course, or may drive onlythe lower motor 151 to rotate only the lower fan 152 throughout theplurality of time sections of the dust removal course.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive both theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 to rotate all the upper fans 142and the lower fan 152 throughout the plurality of time sections of thedust removal course.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive only theupper motor 141 to rotate only the upper fans 142 in some time sectionsof the plurality of time sections of the dust removal course, and maydrive only the lower motor 151 to rotate only the lower fan 152 in theother time sections.

Accordingly, the clothes care apparatus 1 may provide various air flowsin the dust removal course. For example, in at least one time section ofthe plurality of time sections of the dust removal course, both theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 may be driven so that air entersthe inside of the chamber 12 a from above and below the chamber 12 a,and in at least one time section, any one of the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 may be driven so that air enters the inside of thechamber 12 a from above or below the chamber 12 a.

That is, clothes located inside the chamber 12 a of the clothes careapparatus 1 may be provided various air flows according to the controlof the controller 160, and therefore, dust existing in the clotheslocated inside the chamber 12 a may be more efficiently removed.

For the controller 160 to determine whether to drive the upper blower140 and the lower blower 150 and rpms of the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 in the plurality of time sections of the dust removalcourse based on driving information, the driving information may bestored in the storage device 130.

The driving information may be stored in the storage device 130 when theclothes care apparatus 1 is manufactured. The driving information may bereceived from an external communicator through the communicator 120 tobe stored in the storage device 130.

The driving information stored in the storage device 130 may includeinformation about the number of time sections included in the pluralityof time sections, driving time information of each of the plurality oftime sections, information about whether to drive the upper motor 141and the lower motor 151 in each of the plurality of time sections, andinformation about rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151.

More specifically, the driving information may include information aboutthe number of time sections included in the plurality of time sectionsthat are performed in the dust removal course. That is, the drivinginformation may include number information for time sections included inthe plurality of time sections that are performed in the dust removalcourse. The plurality of time sections may include two or more timesections, and the number of the plurality of time sections is notlimited.

Also, the driving information may include driving time information foreach time section. The driving time information for each time sectionmay be information about a duration time of the time section.

Also, the driving information may include information about whether todrive the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each of theplurality of time sections. Information about whether to drive the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 for at least one time section mayrepresent that both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 aredriven or that any one of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 isdriven.

Also, the driving information may include information about rpms of theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each of the plurality of timesections.

Also, the driving information may include information about rpms of theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in at least one time section forwhich both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 are driven, andinformation about rpm of the upper motor 141 or information about rpm ofthe lower motor 151 in at least one time section for which any one ofthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 is driven.

Also, the driving information stored in the storage device 130 accordingto an embodiment may include information about whether to drive theupper heater 170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 in each of theplurality of time sections.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may control the upperheater 170 for heating air entering the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 and the lower heatexchanger 180 for exchanging air entering the inside of the chamber 12 afrom below the chamber 12 a by the lower fan 152 with heat to removemoisture in the air.

More specifically, the controller 160 may drive the upper heater 170 andthe lower heat exchanger 180 based on the driving information stored inthe storage device 130.

That is, the controller 160 may drive the upper heater 170 for heatingair entering the inside of the chamber 12 a from above the chamber 12 aby the upper fans 142 in at least one time section of the plurality oftime sections of the dust removal course, and drive the lower heatexchanger 180 for exchanging air entering the inside of the chamber 12 afrom below the chamber 12 a by the lower fan 152 with heat to removemoisture in the air in at least one time section of the plurality oftime sections of the dust removal course.

That is, the controller 160 may drive at least one of the upper heater170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 for at least one time section ofthe dust removal course to heat air entering the inside of the chamber12 a from above the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 or to dry airentering the inside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a bythe lower fan 152.

Accordingly, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a maybe supplied air from which moisture has been removed, and accordingly,an adhesive force between the clothes and dust due to moisture may bereduced, so that dust existing in the clothes may be more efficientlyremoved.

Referring to FIG. 6, driving information 600 may include informationabout whether to drive the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150,information about rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151,and information about whether to drive the upper heater 170 and lowerheat exchanger 180, for three time sections of the dust removal course.

More specifically, the driving information 600 may represent that thedust removal course includes three time sections and that the timesections appear for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and 5 minutes, respectively.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that, during a firsttime section, only the upper blower 140 is driven and the upper motor141 rotates at 2300 rpm.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that, during a secondtime section, both the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 aredriven, the upper motor 141 rotates at 2700 rpm, and the lower motor 151rotates at 1700 rpm.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that, during a thirdtime section, only the upper blower 140 is driven and the upper motor141 rotates at 2300 rpm.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that neither the upperheater 170 nor the lower heat exchanger 180 are driven in the first timesection, at least one of the upper heater 170 and the lower heatexchanger 180 is driven in the second time section, and neither theupper heater 170 nor the lower heat exchanger 180 are driven in thethird time section.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive only the uppermotor 141 during the first time section to rotate the upper motor 141 at2300 rpm, drive both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 duringthe second time section to rotate the upper motor 141 at 2700 rpm andthe lower motor 151 at 1700 rpm, and drive only the upper motor 141during the third time section to rotate the upper motor 141 at 2300 rpm,based on the driving information 600.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive only the uppermotor 141 to first remove dust existing in inside air of the chamber 12a, before driving both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 toremove dust existing in clothes.

That is, the controller 160 may drive only the upper motor 141 duringthe first time section to remove dust existing in inside air of thechamber 12 a through the dust collecting filter 12 e provided in thefirst upper duct 13 through which air flowing by the upper fans 142passes, according to the driving information 600.

The reason may be to first remove dust existing in the inside air of thechamber 12 a, before both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151are driven to cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove and below the chamber 12 a to remove dust existing in clothes, inorder to more efficiently remove dust existing in the clothes.

Thereby, the clothes care apparatus 1 may prevent the clothes from beingcontaminated with dust existing in the inside air of the chamber 12 a,before air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and belowthe chamber 12 a to remove dust existing in the clothes.

Also, the controller 160 may drive the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151 in the second time section to remove dust existing in theclothes through air entered the inside of the chamber 12 a from aboveand below the chamber 12 a, and then again drive the upper motor 141 inthe third time section to remove dust existing in the inside air of thechamber 12 a through the dust collecting filter 12 e after the dustexisting in the clothes is removed.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive neither theupper heater 170 nor the lower heat exchanger 180 in the first timesection, drive at least one of the upper heater 170 and the lower heatexchanger 180 in the second time section, and drive neither the upperheater 170 nor the lower heat exchanger 180 in the third time section,based on the driving information 600.

That is, the controller 160 may drive at least one of the upper heater170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 in the second time section forwhich air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and below thechamber 12 a to remove dust existing in the clothes, thereby drying theair entered the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and/or below thechamber 12 a.

That is, the controller 160 may drive at least one of the upper heater170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 for the second time section of thedust removal course to heat air entering the inside of the chamber 12 afrom above the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 or to dry air enteringthe inside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a by the lowerfan 152.

Accordingly, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a maybe supplied air from which moisture has been removed, and accordingly,an adhesive force between the clothes and dust due to moisture may bereduced, so that dust existing in the clothes may be more efficientlyremoved.

However, the driving information 600 shown in FIG. 6 is an example ofdriving information, and the number of time sections, a driving time ofeach time section, whether to drive the upper blower 140 and the lowerblower 150 for each time section, rpms of the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 for each time section, and whether to drive the upperheater 170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 for each time section may beprovided variously according to an experiment.

FIG. 7A shows a dust distribution when the dust collecting filter 12 edoes not exist in the clothes care apparatus 1 according to anembodiment of the disclosure, and FIG. 7B shows a dust distribution whenthe dust collecting filter 12 e exists in the clothes care apparatus 1according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive both the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 in at least time section of theplurality of time sections. Accordingly, the upper fans 142 and thelower fan 152 may rotate so that air enters the inside of the chamber 12a from above and below the chamber 12 a.

That is, the upper fans 142 may receive a rotatory force from the uppermotor 141 to move air in the down direction of the chamber 12 a, and thelower fan 152 may receive a rotatory force from the lower motor 151 tomove air in the up direction of the chamber 12 a.

Also, the controller 160 may drive any one of the upper motor 141 andthe lower motor 151 in at least one time section of the plurality oftime sections. Accordingly, the upper fans 142 or the lower fan 152 mayrotate so that air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above orbelow the chamber 12 a.

As air enters the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and below thechamber 12 a, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a maymove freely according to the flow of the air, and dust existing in theclothes may be removed according to the free movements of the clothes.

As the dust existing in the clothes is removed, inside air of thechamber 12 a may be contaminated with the dust shook off from theclothes. Accordingly, when the dust existing in the inside air of thechamber 12 a is not removed, the dust may be again gathered on theclothes.

Also, when the door 20 is opened, a user may be exposed to the dustexisting in the inside air of the chamber 12 a, and in this case, air ofa space where the clothes care apparatus 1 is installed may becontaminated.

Accordingly, the clothes care apparatus 1 may include the dustcollecting filter 12 e for collecting dust existing in the inside air ofthe chamber 12 a in the inside of the chamber 12 a.

Referring to FIGS. 7A and 7B, it is confirmed that an amount of dust inthe chamber 12 a measured when the dust collecting filter 12 e isinstalled in the inside of the clothes care apparatus 1 is lower than anamount of dust in the chamber 12 a measured when the dust collectingfilter 12 e is not installed in the inside of the clothes care apparatus1.

More specifically, FIG. 7A is a graph showing an amount of dust in thechamber 12 a when the dust collecting filter 12 e is not installed inthe inside of the clothes care apparatus 1. Referring to FIG. 7A, it isconfirmed that, when dust existing in clothes is removed by the flow ofair, various sizes of dust may be generated to increase an amount ofdust in the chamber 12 a, and it takes a predetermined time to reducethe amount of dust in the chamber 12 a.

FIG. 7B is a graph showing an amount of dust in the chamber 12 a whenthe dust collecting filter 12 e is installed in the inside of theclothes care apparatus 1. Referring to FIG. 7B, it is confirmed that,when dust is removed by the flow of air, an amount of dust in thechamber 12 a is reduced as soon as it increases. That is, it isconfirmed that a time taken for an amount of dust in the chamber 12 a tobe reduced when the dust collecting filter 12 e is installed is notlonger than that taken for an amount of dust in the chamber 12 a to bereduced when the dust collecting filter 12 e is not installed.

The dust collecting filter 12 e may be positioned at the first inlet 12d of the first upper duct 13 through which air flowing by the upper fans142 moves, and collect dust in the air passing through the first upperduct 13.

More specifically, in the rear portion of the chamber 12 a, the firstinlet 12 d may be formed to cause inside air of the chamber 12 a toenter the upper ducts 13 and 14. In the front or rear area of the firstinlet 12 d, the dust collecting filter 12 e for collecting foreignmaterials such as dust may be installed.

Inside air of the chamber 12 a including dust may flow by the upper fans142 to enter the first upper duct 13, and dust in the air passingthrough the first upper duct 13 may be collected by the dust collectingfilter 12 e installed at the first inlet 12 d.

That is, dust removed from clothes by air flow and included in theinside air of the chamber 12 a may be collected by the dust collectingfilter 12 e and removed. Thereby, the inside air of the chamber 12 a maybe prevented from including a large amount of dust, and also, dustremoved from clothes may be prevented from being again gathered on theclothes or from being discharged to the outside of the chamber 12 a whenthe door 20 is opened.

FIG. 8 is a side cross-sectional view of the clothes care apparatus 1according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 8, the clothes care apparatus 1 according to anembodiment may further include a weight sensor 210 positioned in theinside of the chamber 12 a to measure a weight of clothes hung on thehanger 30 located in the chamber 12 a, and a camera 220 positioned inthe inside of the chamber 12 a to photograph the inside of the chamber12 a.

More specifically, the weight sensor 210 according to an embodiment maybe positioned at the top hanging portion 31 a of the hanger 30.Therefore, the weight sensor 210 may measure a weight of clothes hung onthe hanger 30. However, the position of the weight sensor 210 is notlimited to this, and the weight sensor 210 may be positioned at anyother location at which a weight of clothes hung on the hanger 30 may bemeasured.

The camera 220 according to an embodiment may be positioned on onesurface of the door 20 to photograph the inside of the chamber 12 a.Therefore, the camera 220 may photograph clothes hung on the hanger 30in the inside of the chamber 12 a. However, the location of the camera220 is not limited to this, and the camera 220 may be positioned at anyother location at which it may photograph clothes hung on the hanger 30.Also, FIG. 8 shows a single camera, however, the clothes care apparatus1 may include a plurality of cameras installed at different locations inthe inside of the chamber 12 a.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may determine a type ofclothes based on an output from at least one of the weight sensor 210and the camera 220.

More specifically, the controller 160 may determine at least one of aweight, length, and material of clothes hung on the hanger 30 based onan output from the weight sensor 210 and the camera 220.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may receiveinformation about a type of clothes hung on the hanger 30 based on atleast one of a weight, length, and material of the clothes, from anexternal communicator through the communicator 120.

That is, the communicator 120 according to an embodiment may receiveinformation about a type of clothes located in the clothes careapparatus 1 from an external communicator. More specifically, a user mayinput information about a type of clothes put in the clothes careapparatus 1 to the external communicator, and the input informationabout the type of clothes may be transferred to the clothes careapparatus 1 from the external communicator through the communicator 120.

Accordingly, the controller 160 may determine a type of the clothes hungon the hanger 30 according to a weight, length, and material of theclothes based on the information about the type of the clothes receivedthrough the communicator 120.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may determine whether todrive the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 and change rpms of theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151, in each of the plurality oftime sections, based on the type of the clothes according to the weight,length, and material of the clothes.

For example, when the controller 160 determines that at least one of theweight and length of the clothes is greater than or equal to an upperlimit, the controller 160 may increase the number of time sections frompredetermined driving information and increase rpms of the upper motor141 and the lower motor 151 in each time section.

Also, when the controller 160 determines that at least one of the weightand length of the clothes is less than a lower limit, the controller 160may decrease the number of time section from the predetermined drivinginformation and decrease the rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151 in each time section.

However, the above-described example is an embodiment, and thecontroller 160 may determine whether to drive the upper motor 141 andthe lower motor 151 and change rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151, in each of the plurality of time sections, based on a type ofclothes according to a weight, length, and material of the clothes.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive at least one ofthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each time section basedon the determination on whether to drive the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 and the changed rpms of the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151. Therefore, the clothes care apparatus 1 according to anembodiment may more efficiently remove dust existing in the clothesbased on the type of the clothes.

Also, the clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment mayfurther include a dust measuring sensor 230 positioned in the inside ofthe chamber 12 a to measure an amount of dust included in the inside airof the chamber 12 a.

The dust measuring sensor 230 according to an embodiment may bepositioned above the first inlet 12 d through which inside air of thechamber 12 a flows. However, the dust measuring sensor 230 may bepositioned at any other location at which it may measure an amount ofdust in the inside air of the chamber 12 a.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may determine an amount ofdust included in the inside air of the chamber 12 a based on an outputfrom the dust measuring sensor 230. That is, the controller 160 maydetermine an amount of dust included in the inside air of the chamber 12a when the dust removal course is performed.

The controller 160 may change an execution time of each of the pluralityof time sections of the dust removal course based on the determinedamount of dust included in the inside air of the chamber 12 a.

When the amount of dust included in the inside air of the chamber 12 ais reduced to a predetermined threshold value or less, the controller160 according to an embodiment may reduce an execution time of the dustremoval course. That is, the controller 160 may reduce an execution timeof each of the plurality of time sections of the dust removal course tothereby reduce the entire execution time of the dust removal course.

That is, in the case of clothes of a low degree of contamination, anamount of dust removed from the clothes when the dust removal course isperformed may be small, and accordingly, an amount of dust included inthe inside air of the chamber 12 a may also be small. In this case, thecontroller 160 may determine that an amount of dust included in theinside air of the chamber 12 a is less than the predetermined thresholdvalue, and reduce an execution time of the dust removal course.

Therefore, clothes with a low degree of contamination may be cared morequickly, and clothes with a high degree of contamination may be caredmore satisfactorily.

Also, the clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment mayfurther include a side fan (not shown) located on a side surface of thechamber 12 a and a side motor (not shown) for rotating the side fan (notshown) to cause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from theside of the chamber 12 a.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive all of the uppermotor 141, the lower motor 151, and the side motor (not shown) for atleast one time section of the plurality of time sections, and drive atleast one of the upper motor 141, the lower motor 151, and the sidemotor (not shown) for at least one time section of the plurality of timesections, based on driving information.

The driving information stored in the storage device 130 may includeinformation about the number of time sections of the plurality of timesections, information about a driving time of each of the plurality oftime sections, information about whether to drive the upper motor 141,the lower motor 151, and the side motor (not shown) in each of theplurality of time sections, and information about rpms of the uppermotor 141, the lower motor 151, and the side motor (not shown).

Because the clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment includesthe side fan (not shown) and the side motor (not shown), a flow of airentering the inside of the chamber 12 a from the side of the chamber 12a, in addition of a flow of air entering the inside of the chamber 12 afrom above and below the chamber 12 a by the upper fan 142 and the lowerfan 152, may be provided to clothes.

Therefore, flows of air may be provided in various directions to clotheshung on the hanger 30 in the chamber 12 a, and accordingly, the clothesmay move freely. As a result, as the clothes move freely, dust existingin the clothes may be more efficiently removed.

Hereinafter, a control method of the clothes care apparatus 1 accordingto an embodiment will be described. The control method of the clothescare apparatus 1 which will be described below may be applied to theclothes care apparatus 1 according to the above-described embodiment.Accordingly, descriptions given above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 8will also be applied in the same way to the control method of theclothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment althoughspecifically not stated.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of controlling the upper blower140 and the lower blower 150 in a control method of the clothes careapparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 9, the controller 160 of the clothes care apparatus 1according to an embodiment may drive any one of the upper motor 141 andthe lower motor 151 in a first time section based on stored drivinginformation, in operation 910.

More specifically, the controller 160 according to an embodiment maydrive any one of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 to rotateany one of the upper fans 142 and the lower fan 152 in the first timesection which is at least one time section of a plurality of timesections.

Therefore, air may enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from above orbelow the chamber 12 a, and clothes hung on the hanger 30 may move by aflow of the air. As the clothes moves by the flow of the air, dustexisting in the clothes may be removed, and the dust removed from theclothes may be collected by the dust collecting filter 12 e on the firstupper duct 13 through which air flowing by the upper fans 142 passes.

Also, when the first time section has elapsed (“YES” in operation 920),the controller 160 of the clothes care apparatus 1 according to anembodiment may drive both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 ina second time section based on the stored driving information, inoperation 930. When the second time section has elapsed (“YES” inoperation 940), the controller 160 may terminate a dust removal course.

More specifically, the controller 160 according to an embodiment maydrive both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 to rotate all theupper fans 142 and the lower fan 152 in the second time section which isat least one time section of the plurality of time sections.

Therefore, air may enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from above andbelow the chamber 12 a, and clothes hung on the hanger 30 may move by aflow of the air. As the clothes moves by the flow of the air, dustexisting in the clothes may be removed, and the dust removed from theclothes may be collected by the dust collecting filter 12 e on the firstupper duct 13 through which air flowing by the upper fan 142 passes.

Also, when a time section changes based on driving information, thecontroller 160 according to an embodiment may change rpm of at least oneof the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151. That is, the controller160 may set rpm of at least one of the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151 in each time section based on driving information.

As such, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may determinewhether to drive the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 and rpmsof the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each of the pluralityof time sections based on driving information.

Accordingly, the clothes care apparatus 1 may provide various flows ofair in the dust removal course. For example, in at least one timesection of the plurality of time sections of the dust removal course,both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 may be driven to causeair to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and below thechamber 12 a, and in at least one time section, any one of the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 may be driven to cause air to enterthe inside of the chamber 12 a from above or below the chamber 12 a.

That is, clothes located in the inside of the chamber 12 a of theclothes care apparatus 1 may be provided various flows of air accordingto the control of the controller 160, and therefore, dust existing inthe clothes located in the inside of the chamber 12 a may be moreefficiently removed.

For the controller 160 to determine whether to drive the upper blower140 and the lower blower 150 and rpms of the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 in the plurality of time sections of the dust removalcourse based on driving information, the driving information may bestored in the storage device 130.

The driving information may be stored in the storage device 130 when theclothes care apparatus 1 is manufactured. The driving information may bereceived from an external communicator through the communicator 120 tobe stored in the storage device 130.

The driving information stored in the storage device 130 may includeinformation about the number of time sections included in the pluralityof time sections, driving time information of each of the plurality oftime sections, information about whether to drive the upper motor 141and the lower motor 151 in each of the plurality of time sections, andinformation about rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151.

More specifically, the driving information may include information aboutthe number of time sections included in the plurality of time sectionsthat are performed in the dust removal course. That is, the drivinginformation may include number information for time sections included inthe plurality of time sections that are performed in the dust removalcourse. The plurality of time sections may include two or more timesections, and the number of the plurality of time sections is notlimited.

Also, the driving information may include driving time information foreach of the plurality of time sections. The driving time information foreach of the plurality of time sections may be information about a timefor which each of the plurality of time sections appears.

Also, the driving information may include information about whether todrive the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each of theplurality of time sections. Information about whether to drive the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 for at least one time section mayrepresent that both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 aredriven or that any one of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 isdriven.

Also, the driving information may include information about rpms of theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each of the plurality of timesections.

That is, the driving information may include information about rpms ofthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in at least one time sectionfor which both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 are driven,and information about rpm of the upper motor 141 or information aboutrpm of the lower motor 151 in at least one time section for which anyone of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 is driven.

Also, the driving information stored in the storage device 130 accordingto an embodiment may include information about whether to drive theupper heater 170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 in each of theplurality of time sections.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may control the upperheater 170 for heating air entering the inside of the chamber 12 a fromabove the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 and the lower heatexchanger 180 for exchanging heat with air entering the inside of thechamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a by the lower fan 152 to removemoisture in the air.

More specifically, the controller 160 may drive the upper heater 170 andthe lower heat exchanger 180 based on the driving information stored inthe storage device 130.

That is, the controller 160 may drive at least one of the upper heater170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 for at least one time section ofthe dust removal course to heat air entering the inside of the chamber12 a from above the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 or to dry airentering the inside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a bythe lower fan 152.

Accordingly, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a maybe supplied air from which moisture has been removed, and accordingly,an adhesive force between the clothes and dust due to moisture may bereduced, so that dust existing in the clothes may be more efficientlyremoved.

In FIG. 9, a case in which the first time section for which any one ofthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 is driven is earlier thanthe second time section for which both the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151 are driven is shown. However, the second time section forwhich both the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 are driven may beearlier than the first time section for which any one of the upper motor141 and the lower motor 151 is driven.

Also, in FIG. 9, a case in which the plurality of time sections of thedust removal course is configured with the first time section and thesecond time section is shown. However, the dust removal course may beconfigured with a plurality of time sections including two or more timesections in which different determinations on whether to drive the uppermotor 141 and the lower motor 151 are made and the upper motor 141 andthe lower motor 151 are set to different rpms.

However, the plurality of time sections may include the first timesection in which any one of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151is driven and the second time section in which both the upper motor 141and the lower motor 151 are driven.

That is, the plurality of time sections may include at least one firsttime section in which any one of the upper motor 141 and the secondmotor 151 is driven and at least one second time section in which boththe upper motor 141 and the second motor 151 are driven.

In this case, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may controlthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 such that the at least onefirst time section and the at least one second time section appearalternately.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a process of controlling the upper blower140 and the lower blower 150 in a control method of the clothes careapparatus 1 according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 10, the controller 160 of the clothes care apparatus 1according to an embodiment may control the upper blower 140 and thelower blower 150 based on the driving information 600 exemplified inFIG. 6.

The driving information 600 may include information about whether todrive the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150, information aboutrpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151, and informationabout whether to drive the upper heater 170 and the lower heat exchanger180, for three time sections of a dust removal course.

More specifically, the driving information 600 may represent that thedust removal course includes three time sections and the time sectionsappear for 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and 5 minutes, respectively.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that, during a firsttime section, only the upper blower 140 is driven and the upper motor141 rotates at 2300 rpm.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that, during a secondtime section, both the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 aredriven, the upper motor 141 rotates at 2700 rpm, and the lower motor 151rotates at 1700 rpm.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that, during a thirdtime section, only the upper blower 140 is driven and the upper motor141 rotates at 2300 rpm.

Also, the driving information 600 may represent that neither the upperheater 170 nor the lower heat exchanger 180 are driven in the first timesection, at least one of the upper heater 170 and the lower heatexchanger 180 is driven in the second time section, and neither theupper heater 170 nor the lower heat exchanger 180 are driven in thethird time section.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive the upper motor141 in the first time section based on the stored driving information600, in operation 1010.

More specifically, the controller 160 may drive only the upper motor 141such that the upper motor 141 rotates at 2300 rpm for an execution timeof 5 minutes corresponding to the first time section.

When the first time section has elapsed (“YES” in operation 1020), thecontroller 160 according to an embodiment may drive at least one of theupper heater 170 and the lower heat exchanger 180, in operation 1030.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive both theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in the second time section basedon the stored driving information 600, in operation 1040.

More specifically, the controller 160 may drive both the upper motor 141and the lower motor 151 for an execution time of 15 minutescorresponding to the second time section such that the upper motor 141rotates at 2700 rpm and the lower motor 151 rotates at 1700 rpm.

That is, the controller 160 may drive both the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 in the second time section of the dust removal course tocause air to enter the inside of the chamber 12 a from above and belowthe chamber 12 a.

Also, the controller 160 may drive at least one of the upper heater 170and the lower heat exchanger 180 for the second time section of the dustremoval course to dry at least one of air entering the inside of thechamber 12 a from above the chamber 12 a by the upper fans 142 and airentering the inside of the chamber 12 a from below the chamber 12 a bythe lower fan 152.

Therefore, clothes hung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a may besupplied air from which moisture has been removed, and accordingly, anadhesive force between the clothes and dust due to moisture may bereduced, so that dust existing in the clothes may be more efficientlyremoved.

When the second time section has elapsed (“YES” in operation 1050), thecontroller 160 according to an embodiment may control the upper heater170 and the lower heat exchanger 180 to be not driven, in operation1060.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive the uppermotor 141 in the third time section based on the stored drivinginformation 600, in operation 1070.

More specifically, the controller 160 may drive only the upper motor 141for the third time section such that the upper motor 141 rotates at 2300rpm.

When the third time section has elapsed (“YES” in operation 1080), thecontroller 160 may terminate the dust removal course.

However, the control method of the clothes care apparatus 1 based on thedriving information 600, as shown in FIG. 10, is an example, and thenumber of time sections, a driving time of each time section, whether todrive the upper blower 140 and the lower blower 150 for each timesection, rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 for eachtime section, and whether to drive the upper heater 170 and the lowerheat exchanger 180 for each time section may be provided variouslyaccording to an experiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a process of determining a type ofclothes accommodated in the chamber 12 a to control the upper blower 140and the lower blower 150, in a control method of the clothes careapparatus 1 according to another embodiment of the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 11, the controller 160 of the clothes care apparatus 1according to an embodiment may determine a type of clothes inside thechamber 12 a, in operation 1110.

More specifically, the controller 160 may determine a type of clotheshung on the hanger 30 inside the chamber 12 a based on an output from atleast one sensor provided inside the chamber 12 a and information aboutthe type of the clothes received from an external communicator throughthe communicator 120.

The clothes care apparatus 1 according to an embodiment may furtherinclude the weight sensor 210 positioned in the inside of the chamber 12a to measure a weight of clothes hung on the hanger 30 located in thechamber 12 a, and the camera 220 positioned in the inside of the chamber12 a to photograph the inside of the chamber 12 a.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may determine a type ofclothes based on an output from at least one of the weight sensor 210and the camera 220.

More specifically, the controller 160 may determine a weight, length,and material of clothes hung on the hanger 30 based on outputs from theweight sensor 210 and the camera 220.

Also, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may receiveinformation about a type of the clothes based on a weight, length, andmaterial of the clothes hung on the hanger 30, from an externalcommunicator through the communicator 120.

That is, the communicator 120 according to an embodiment may receiveinformation about a type of clothes located in the clothes careapparatus 1 from an external communicator. More specifically, a user mayinput information about a type of clothes put in the clothes careapparatus 1 to the external communicator, and the input informationabout the type of clothes may be transferred to the clothes careapparatus 1 from the external communicator through the communicator 120.

Accordingly, the controller 160 may determine a type of the clothes hungon the hanger 30 according to a weight, length, and material of theclothes based on the information about the type of clothes receivedthrough the communicator 120.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may determine whether todrive the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 and change rpms of theupper motor 141 and the lower motor 151, in each of the plurality oftime sections, based on the type of the clothes, in operation 1120.

That is, the controller 160 according to an embodiment may determinewhether to drive the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 and changerpms of the upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151, in each of theplurality of time sections, based on a type of clothes according to aweight, length, and material of the clothes.

For example, when the controller 160 determines that at least one of theweight and length of the clothes is greater than or equal to an upperlimit, the controller 160 may increase the number of time sections frompredetermined driving information and increase rpms of the upper motor141 and the lower motor 151 in each time section.

Also, when the controller 160 determines that at least one of the weightand length of the clothes is less than a lower limit, the controller 160may decrease the number of time sections from the predetermined drivinginformation, and decrease the rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151 in each time section.

However, the above-described example is an embodiment, and thecontroller 160 may determine whether to drive the upper motor 141 andthe lower motor 151 and change rpms of the upper motor 141 and the lowermotor 151, in each of the plurality of time sections, based on a type ofclothes according to a weight, length and material of the clothes.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive at least one ofthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151, in each time section, basedon the determination on whether to drive the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151 and the changed rpms of the upper motor 141 and thelower motor 151, in operation 1130. Therefore, the clothes careapparatus 1 according to an embodiment may more efficiently remove dustexisting in the clothes based on the type of the clothes.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a process of adjusting an execution timeof a dust removal course of the clothes care apparatus 1, in a controlmethod of the clothes care apparatus 1 according to another embodimentof the disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 12, the controller 160 of the clothes care apparatus 1according to an embodiment may determine an amount of dust in thechamber 12 a, in operation 1210.

More specifically, the controller 160 may determine an amount of dust inthe chamber 12 a based on an output from the dust measuring sensor 230positioned in the inside of the chamber 12 a to measure an amount ofdust included in the inside air of the chamber 12 a. That is, thecontroller 160 may determine an amount of dust included in the insideair of the chamber 12 a when the dust removal course is performed.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may change an executiontime for each of the plurality of time sections based on the determinedamount of dust included in the inside air of the chamber 12 a, inoperation 1220. That is, the controller 160 may change an execution timefor each of the plurality of time sections of the dust removal coursebased on an amount of dust included in the inside air of the chamber 12a.

More specifically, when the amount of dust in the inside air of thechamber 12 a is reduced to a predetermined threshold value or less, thecontroller 160 may reduce an execution time of the dust removal course.That is, the controller 160 may reduce an execution time of each of theplurality of time section of the dust removal course to thereby reducethe entire execution time of the dust removal course.

That is, in the case of clothes of a low degree of contamination, anamount of dust removed from the clothes when the dust removal course isperformed may be small, and accordingly, an amount of dust included inthe inside air of the chamber 12 a may also be small. In this case, thecontroller 160 may determine that an amount of dust included in theinside air of the chamber 12 a is less than the predetermined thresholdvalue, and reduce an execution time of the dust removal course.

The controller 160 according to an embodiment may drive at least one ofthe upper motor 141 and the lower motor 151 in each time section basedon the changed execution time, in operation 1230.

Therefore, clothes of a low degree of contamination may be cared morequickly, and clothes of a high degree of contamination may be cared moresatisfactorily.

The clothes care apparatus and the control method thereof according toan aspect may remove dust gathered on clothes and collect dust existingin the inside air of the chamber.

Meanwhile, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in the form of arecording medium that stores instructions executable by a computer. Theinstructions may be stored in the form of program codes, and whenexecuted by a processor, the instructions may create a program module toperform operations of the disclosed embodiments. The recording mediummay be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium.

The computer-readable recording medium may include all kinds ofrecording media storing instructions that can be interpreted by acomputer. For example, the computer-readable recording medium may beROM, RAM, a magnetic tape, a magnetic disc, a flash memory, an opticaldata storage device, etc.

Although a few embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown anddescribed, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art thatchanges may be made in these embodiments without departing from theprinciples and spirit of the disclosure, the scope of which is definedin the claims and their equivalents.

Although the present disclosure has been described with variousembodiments, various changes and modifications may be suggested to oneskilled in the art. It is intended that the present disclosure encompasssuch changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the appendedclaims

What is claimed is:
 1. A clothes care apparatus comprising: a chamber;an upper fan positioned above the chamber and configured to move air ina down direction of the chamber; a lower fan positioned below thechamber and configured to move the air in an up direction of thechamber; a first motor configured to rotate the upper fan; a secondmotor configured to rotate the lower fan; a filter configured to collectdust from the air within the chamber; and a controller configured tocontrol the first motor and the second motor in a plurality of timesections, wherein the plurality of time sections include at least onefirst time section for driving any one of the first motor and the secondmotor and at least one second time section for driving both the firstmotor and the second motor.
 2. The clothes care apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: an inputter configured to receive information aboutan execution course from a user, wherein, when the information about theexecution course indicates a dust removal course, the controller isconfigured to control the first motor and the second motor in theplurality of time sections.
 3. The clothes care apparatus of claim 1,wherein the controller is configured to control the first motor and thesecond motor such that the first time section and the second timesection appear alternately in the plurality of time sections.
 4. Theclothes care apparatus of claim 3, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to: drive the first motor in the first time section, driveboth the first motor and the second motor in the second time sectionafter the first time section, and drive the first motor in a thirdsection after the second time section.
 5. The clothes care apparatus ofclaim 1, further comprising: an upper heater configured to heat airmoving by the upper fan; and a lower heat exchanger configured toexchange air moving by the lower fan with heat, wherein the controllerdrives at least one of the upper heater and the lower heat exchanger ina least one time section among the plurality of time sections.
 6. Theclothes care apparatus of claim 1, further comprising: a storage deviceconfigured to store driving information, wherein the driving informationincludes a first set of information indicating whether to drive thefirst motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections and a second set of information indicating an rpm of the firstmotor and the second motor in each of the plurality of time sections,wherein the controller is configured to: determine whether to drive thefirst motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections, based on the driving information, and change the rpm of thefirst motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections; based on the driving information.
 7. The clothes careapparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:periodically turn on and off the first motor and the second motor duringthe first time section, and periodically turn on and off the first motoror the second motor is during the second time section.
 8. The clothescare apparatus of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured tochange an rpm of at least one of the first motor and the second motorwhen a time section changes.
 9. The clothes care apparatus of claim 1,further comprising: an outlet configured to guide the air that is movedin the down direction of the chamber by the upper fan; and a hangerpositioned in the inside of the chamber, wherein clothes are hung on thehanger, wherein the hanger comprises a connection hole connected to theoutlet, and an inner outlet, wherein the connection hole is configuredto receive the air, and the inner outlet is configured to discharge theair to an internal surface of the clothes, and wherein the outletcomprises an outer outlet is configured to discharge the air to anexternal surface of the clothes.
 10. The clothes care apparatus of claim1, wherein, based on a type of clothes within the clothes careapparatus, the controller is configured to: determine whether to drivethe first motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections, and change an rpm of the first motor and the second motor ineach of the plurality of time sections.
 11. The clothes care apparatusof claim 10, further comprising a communicator configured to receiveinformation indicating the type of the clothes from an externalcommunicator, wherein the controller is configured to determine the typeof the clothes located in the inside of the chamber based on theinformation about the type of the clothes received from the externalcommunicator.
 12. The clothes care apparatus of claim 1, furthercomprising a dust measuring sensor positioned within the chamber andconfigured to measure an amount of dust included in the air within thechamber, wherein the controller is configured to change an executiontime of each of the plurality of time sections based on the amount ofdust measured by the dust measuring sensor.
 13. A control method of aclothes care apparatus, the clothes care apparatus including a chamber,an upper fan positioned above the chamber, a lower fan positioned belowthe chamber, and a filter, the control method comprising: driving anyone of a first motor and a second motor during at least one first timesection among a plurality of time sections, the first motor rotating theupper fan to move air in a down direction of the chamber, the secondmotor rotating the lower fan to move the air in an up direction of thechamber; and driving both the first motor and the second motor during atleast one second time section among the plurality of time sections. 14.The control method of claim 13, further comprising: receivinginformation about an execution course from a user; and when theinformation about the execution course indicates a dust removal course,controlling the first motor and the second motor in the plurality oftime sections.
 15. The control method of claim 13, further comprising:controlling the first motor and the second motor such that the firsttime section and the second time section appear alternately in theplurality of time sections.
 16. The control method of claim 13, furthercomprising: driving at least one of an upper heater for heating the airmoved by the upper fan and a lower heat exchanger for exchanging heat ofthe air moving by the lower fan, in at least one time section among theplurality of time sections.
 17. The control method of claim 13, furthercomprising: determining whether to drive the first motor and the secondmotor in each of the plurality, of time sections, based on drivinginformation, and changing an rpm of the first motor and the second motorin each of the plurality of time sections, based on the drivinginformation wherein the driving information includes a first set ofinformation indicating a driving state the first motor and the secondmotor in each of the plurality of time sections and a second set ofinformation indicating the rpm of the first motor and the second motorin each of the plurality of time sections.
 18. The control method ofclaim 13, wherein based on a type of clothes within the chamber, furthercomprising: determining whether to drive the first motor and the secondmotor in each of the plurality, of time sections, and changing an rpm ofthe first motor and the second motor in each of the plurality of timesections.
 19. The control method of claim 13, further comprising:measuring an amount of dust included in the air within the chamber byusing a dust measuring sensor positioned within the chamber, andchanging an execution time of each of the plurality of time sectionsbased on the amount of dust measured by the dust measuring sensor.
 20. Aclothes care apparatus comprising: a chamber; an upper fan positionedabove the chamber and configured to move air in a down direction of thechamber; a lower fan positioned below the chamber and configured to movethe air in an up direction of the chamber; a first motor configured torotate the upper fan; a second motor configured to rotate the lower fan;a filter configured to collect dust from the air within the chamber; anda controller configured to: drive the first motor to move the air in thedown direction of the chamber during a first time section, drive boththe first motor and the second motor to move the air in the up and downdirections of the chamber during a second time section, and drive thefirst motor to move the air in the down direction of the chamber duringa third time section.